Cordless telephone system

ABSTRACT

A low cost cordless telephone system including a base unit, connected to a telephone network, which can transmit and receive RF signals to and from sub-communicating devices. The sub-communicating devices include a cordless microphone for converting acoustical signals to electrical signals and providing same to a transmitter which transmits corresponding simplex RF signals on a cordless telephone frequency to a base unit attached to a telephone network; and a cordless speaker which receives simplex RF signals from a base unit and broadcasts a corresponding telephone conversation. The base unit may connect directly to a telephone network or, in an alternate embodiment, to the handset jack of an existing telephone, thereby interfacing to existing phones including those connected to digital telephone systems. The base unit may also include a speaker used to broadcast the telephone conversation. The base unit speaker and the cordless speaker each may optionally broadcast both sides of the phone conversation, including the presenter&#39;s speech received from the cordless microphone. The system may also be interfaced to an existing sound system via a remote interface unit or a base unit.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/433,530 filed Nov. 4, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,242 thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a cordless telephone system,and more particularly to a cordless telephone system with one or morecommunicating devices particularly suited for use in a conference roomor auditorium setting.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Cordless telephone systems generally include a base unit and a handsetwhich communicate using Radio Frequency (RF) signals. The base unit isconnected to a telephone network, such as the Public Switched TelephoneNetwork (PSTN), while the handset can be removed from the base unit andused within a predetermined range, which is limited by the RF signalstrength and not cord length. The transmission from the handset to thebase unit is typically on a different frequency than the transmissionfrom the base unit to the handset, providing duplex communications.

While existing cordless telephone systems offer additional conveniencesover conventional corded phones, such as mobility, there is currently noconvenient method of transmitting the voice of a person or speaker,referred to hereinafter as a presenter, to a telephone network toconduct a clear telephone conversation in a conference room orauditorium setting. Speakerphones may of course be used for thispurpose, however, speakerphones are often less than ideal because theyrestrict the movement of the presenter, who may not always want to staynear the speakerphone. In addition, speakerphones will often pick-upconsiderable background noise in a conference room or auditoriumsetting.

A presenter could carry a corded telephone handset or a cordlesstelephone handset to transmit the presenter's voice to a telephonenetwork while moving around, but this is usually not practical becauseit substantially restricts the ability of the presenter to use his orher hands for other purposes. Additionally, the presenter's audiencegenerally cannot hear the party at the other end of the telephoneconversation when a handset is used.

Where a sound system is being used to broadcast the presenter's speech,the system can, in theory, be connected to a telephone line, but this isoften difficult, expensive or otherwise impractical. Also, a telephonejack may not be available in many auditoriums or conference rooms.

A further disadvantage of current cordless telephone systems is the toincompatibility of the base units with digital telephone systemsprovided by a number of PBX's.

Therefore, a need exists for a low cost cordless telephone system whichprovides a convenient method of transmitting a presenter's voice to atelephone network to conduct a clear telephone conversation in aconference room or auditorium setting while also allowing an audience tohear the conversation with the other party to the telephoneconversation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a low costcordless telephone system for use by a presenter without restricting thepresenter's mobility.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a low costcordless telephone system that transmits a presenter's voice to atelephone network to conduct a clear telephone conversation in aconference room or auditorium setting.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a low costcordless telephone system that transmits both the presenter's voice andthe voice of the other conversing parties on the telephone conversationover a cordless speaker.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a lowcost cordless telephone system that interfaces to a sound system toachieve all the above objectives.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a lowcost cordless telephone system that interfaces with digital telephonesystems to achieve all the above objectives.

To achieve the above objects, a Cordless telephone system in accordancewith the present invention is provided which includes a base unit,connected to a telephone network, which can transmit and receive RFsignals to and from sub-communicating devices. The sub-communicatingdevices are more specialized than a general purpose handset and includea cordless microphone for converting acoustical signals to electricalsignals and providing the electrical signals to a transmitter whichtransmits corresponding to simplex RF signals unidirectionally on acordless telephone frequency to the base unit attached to the telephonenetwork; and a cordless speaker which unidirectionally receives simplexRF signals from the base unit and broadcasts a corresponding telephoneconversation.

The base unit may connect directly to a telephone network or, in analternate embodiment, to the handset jack of an existing telephone,thereby interfacing to existing phones, including those connected todigital telephone systems. The base unit may also include a speaker usedto broadcast the telephone conversation. The base unit speaker and thecordless speaker each may optionally broadcast both sides of the phoneconversation, including the presenter's speech received from thecordless microphone.

The microphone is preferably adapted to be worn by the presenter orother person, but may be a hand held cordless microphone or an headsetmicrophone. The microphone's transmitter is also preferably adapted tobe worn by the presenter and is electrically connected to the microphoneto receive the electrical audio signals, to convert the electrical audiosignals to RF signals, and to transmit the RF signals.

The base unit is remote from both the microphone and the transmitter andreceives the RF signals from the transmitter and converts the RF signalsto electrical telephone network signals corresponding to the acousticalsignals from the presenter. The base unit is connected to a telephonenetwork to transmit the electrical telephone network signals to thenetwork and to receive electrical telephone network signals from thenetwork that correspond to other telephone communications on thenetwork.

The base unit preferably receives the RF signals in a selectable one ofa plurality of predetermined frequency channels, and the transmitterpreferably transmits the RF signals in a selected one of the pluralityof frequency channels selectable within the transmitter. In addition,the cordless telephone system may include one or more separate, wirelessspeakers that, using RF signals received from the base unit, broadcastsboth sides of the phone conversation, including the presenter's speechreceived from the cordless microphone and the electrical telephonenetwork signals.

In a preferred embodiment, the wireless speaker may also have suitableconnections to connect the wireless speaker to an available soundsystem, allowing the telephone conversation to be broadcast throughout alarger area over a pre-existing speaker system. The addition of theseparate cordless speaker would also address the situation where atelephone jack either is not available or is not conveniently located inthe room where the presenter is speaking.

In another preferred embodiment, the cordless telephone system alsoincludes a sound system interface unit (SSIU), which provides duplexcommunications between the base unit and a sound system. The Soundsystem's microphone(s) and speaker(s) then become part of the cordlesstelephone system, while the SSIU transmits and receives RF signals toand from the base unit. The base unit may optionally be connected to thesound system.

The cordless telephone system may also include a cordless headset, i.e.microphone and ear phone combination, as a duplex sub-communicatingdevice. The microphone would perform the microphone functions describedabove and the earphones would broadcast the telephone conversation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of an exemplary embodiment thereof taken in conjunction withthe attached drawings in which;

FIG. 1 illustrates a cordless telephone system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternate connection for the base unit of thecordless telephone system of FIG. 1 in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 3 illustrates a cordless telephone system including additionalsub-communicating devices in accordance with yet another embodiment ofthe present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Turning now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identifysimilar or identical elements throughout the several views, FIG. 1illustrates a cordless telephone system 10 comprising a microphone 12,transmitter 14, and base unit 16. FIG. 1 also includes a cordlessspeaker 20 that may optionally be used in system 10, and a telephonejack 22 for connecting base unit 16 to a telephone network, such as thePSTN. Generally, microphone 12 is adapted to be worn by an individualor, more clearly, a presenter, such as a lapel type microphone, and isused to receive acoustical signals from the presenter and to convert theacoustical signals to corresponding electrical audio signals. Thetransmitter 14 is also adapted to be worn by the presenter and iselectrically connected to the microphone 12 via wire to receive theelectrical audio signals, to convert the electrical audio signals to RFsignals, and to transmit the RF signals.

The base unit 16 is remote from the microphone 12 and the transmitter14, that is, the base unit is not physically connected to either themicrophone 12 or the transmitter 14. The base unit 16 receives the RFsignals from the transmitter 14 on a receiving frequency and convertsthe RF signals to telephone network signals corresponding to theacoustical signals from the presenter. Also, the base unit 16 isconnected to a telephone network via the telephone jack 22 to transmitthe telephone network signals to the network and to receive telephonenetwork signals from the network that correspond to other audibletelephone communications. The base unit 16 optionally includes a builtin speaker to broadcast the telephone conversation.

The cordless speaker 20 is remote from the base unit 16, microphone 12and transmitter 14. When the cordless speaker 20 is used in system 10,the base unit 16 includes a base unit transmitter, similar to thetransmitter 14 for the microphone to transmit RF signals on a transmitfrequency, different from the receive frequency, to the cordless speaker20. The telephone base unit transmitter transmits RF signalsrepresenting the telephone communications received by the telephone baseunit 16 from the telephone network and also, optionally, the RF signalscorresponding to the acoustical signals received from the presenter. Thecordless speaker 20 converts the received RF signals into electricalaudio signals to broadcast them over the speaker. Additionally, thecordless speaker 20 includes an ‘audio out’ jack to facilitateconnection to a conventional sound system ‘line in’ jack via a cable,thereby providing corresponding electrical audio signals to the soundsystem as well and allowing the telephone conversation to be heard overthe sound system throughout a larger area.

In the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in FIG. 1, baseunit 16 is a typical cordless telephone base, preferably withspeakerphone capabilities. However, in lieu of the cordless handset, thebase unit 16 receives signals from the cordless microphone 12, viatransmitter 14. Also, optionally base unit 16 may include a base unittransmitter to transmit RF signals to one or more cordless speakers 20.The base unit is connected to an AC power source, and is connected to atelephone network via jack 22. In use, the signals received from thecordless microphone 12 are ultimately transmitted to the telephonenetwork, and the signals received on the telephone network areultimately reproduced as audio on the speaker in the base unit 16 and/orone or more cordless speakers 20.

Base unit 16 may be provided with many features commonly known in theart. For example, preferably, the speaker on the base unit 16 can bemuted and can also be used for initiating and receiving telephone calls,where a numeric keypad is provided. Further, base unit 16 may alsoinclude ‘audio out’ connections for connection to a ‘line in’ jack of aconventional sound system, thereby providing corresponding electricalaudio signals to the sound system as well and allowing the telephoneconversation to be heard over the sound system throughout a larger area.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, thebase unit 24 is designed to be attached to the handset jack of a cordedtelephone 26, and the base unit 24 provides a jack for the handset'scord to plug into. In this exemplary embodiment, the corded telephone 26provides all the call set-up functions, and the base unit 24 is used toreceive the signals from the wireless microphone 12 and to transmit tothe cordless speaker 20. The base unit 24 obtains access to thetelephone network through the corded telephone 26 by duplicating thefunctions of the corded handset 26 and otherwise duplicates thefunctions of the base unit 16 of FIG. 1 described above. The base unit24 similarly provides connection to conventional sound systems. The baseunit 24 is also connected to a suitable AC power source.

The configuration shown in FIG. 2 has the added advantage of adaptingquickly to virtually any telephone system on any telephone network. Forinstance, a presenter may add the cordless phone capabilities describedabove to a phone residing on a digital pone network in a notes orconference center.

With reference again to FIG. 1, the cordless microphone 12 may, forexample, be a lapel microphone connected by a wire to a belt pack thathouses the transmitter 14 along with batteries which provide DC power tothe transmitter 14. Any suitable means may be used to secure microphone12 and transmitter 14 to the presenter. Also, preferably, base unit 16receives RF signals from transmitter 14 in a user selectable one of aplurality of predetermined frequency channels, and the transmitter 14 isdesigned to transmit RF signals in a selected one of the predeterminedfrequency channels, user selectable on the transmitter 14. Additionally,the transmitter 14 transmits the RF signal to the base unit 16 on areceive frequency of the base unit 16 and is a simplex sub-communicatingdevice. Only one transmitter 14 may be used within the cordless phonesystem to avoid interference between received signals at the base unit16. The transmitter 14 is a simplex sub-communicating device in thecordless telephone system.

The cordless speaker 20 is connected to a source of AC power andincludes a receiver to receive the RF signals from the base unit 16 orbase unit 24, and a speaker and amplifier with a volume control.Cordless speaker 20 may also be provided with jacks for connection to asound system as described above. The cordless speaker 20 is a simplexsub-communicating device which receives the RF signals from the baseunit 16 on a transmit frequency of the base unit 16, which is alsoselectable at both the base unit 16 and the cordless speaker 20. Unlikethe microphone transmitter 14, multiple cordless speakers may be usedsimultaneously on the cordless phone system, all set to the sametransmit frequency of the base unit 16. There is no fear of interferencesince each receiver is receiving a single, as opposed to multiple, RFsignal.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cordless telephone system including additionalsub-communicating devices in accordance with yet another embodiment ofthe present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, a cordless phone systemincludes a base unit 16 and both simplex and duplex sub communicatingdevices. A duplex sub communicating device shown is the SSIU 30, whichprovides duplex communications between the base unit 16 and a soundsystem 31. The SSIU 30 includes ‘audio out’ and ‘audio in’ jacks whichconnect via cables to a sound system's ‘line in’ and ‘line out’ jacksrespectively. The sound system's microphone(s) and speaker(s) thenbecome part of the cordless telephone system, substituting for themicrophones and speakers in the cordless system with the SSIUtransmitting and receiving RF signals to and from the base unit 16accordingly. The base unit 16 may also optionally include ‘audio out’and ‘audio in’ jacks for direct connection to the sound system 31 fromthe base unit 16.

The system of FIG. 3 may utilize one of a cordless microphone 12 andtransmitter 14, a hand held or stand held cordless microphone 11, and acordless headset 13. The cordless headset 13 may include a microphoneand ear phone, as a bi-directional sub-communicating device. Thecordless headset 13 is electrically connected to a transceiver 15 andincludes a microphone to convert received acoustical signals tocorresponding electrical audio signals. The transceiver 15 is adapted tobe worn by the presenter and receives the electrical audio signals andconverts the electrical audio signals to RF signals and transmits the RFsignals to the base unit 16. The transceiver 15 also receives RF signalsfrom the base unit 16, and converts them to electrical audio signals forbroadcasting by the earphones in the cordless headset 13. Thetransceiver transmits and receives the RF signals on separate userselectable frequencies corresponding to a receive and transmit frequencyof the base unit 16 respectively. The transceiver 13 may also optionallyinclude a keypad 15 a to facilitate call setup functions on the baseunit from a remote location. One or more cordless speakers 20 may beprovided.

The systems illustrated above are subject to the limitation ofsupporting a maximum of one transmitting sub-communicating device, suchas a cordless microphone 11, 12, cordless headset 13 (microphoneportion), and SSIU 30 (‘audio in’ portion), while supporting multiplereceiving sub-communicating devices, such as cordless speakers 20,cordless headset 13 (earphone portion), and SSIU 30 (‘audio out’portion).

The present invention provides low cost simplex communications betweenthe base unit 16 and a number of specialized sub-communicating devices.Even the duplex devices may be viewed as a combination of a transmittingspecialized sub-communicating device with a receiving specializedsub-communicating device. This unique feature of the present inventionallows for a simple, low cost realization of the required circuitry.

While the present invention has been described in detail with referenceto the preferred embodiments, they represent mere exemplaryapplications. Thus, it is to be clearly understood that many variationscan be made by anyone of ordinary skill in the art while staying withinthe scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An adapter comprising: a first radio frequency(RF) receiver to receive first RF signals wirelessly transmitted by afirst RF transmitter of a communicating device; an interface compatiblewith a plurality of types of corded telephones, the interfacefacilitating connection of the RF receiver to a corded telephone, a typeof the corded telephone corresponding to one of the plurality of typesof corded telephones, the corded telephone being different than thecommunicating device, and the interface not housing the cordedtelephone, the interface receiving, from the corded telephone, aplurality of call set-up functions, the interface accessing, using thecorded telephone, a telephone network, the interface duplicating, usingthe received plurality of call set-up functions and based on accessingthe telephone network, a plurality of functions associated with thecorded telephone, and the interface comprising: a first interface toaccept a connection between the adapter and a first jack on a base unitof the corded telephone, and a second interface to accept a connectionbetween the adapter and a second jack on a corded handset of the cordedtelephone; and a second RF transmitter to transmit second RF signals,corresponding to electrical signals communicated by the cordedtelephone, to a cordless speaker having a second RF receiver, thecordless speaker being physically separate from the communicatingdevice, and the cordless speaker being different than the communicatingdevice and being different than the corded telephone.
 2. The adapter ofclaim 1, where the interface further includes: a third interface toaccept a connection to one or more speakers, where the adapter isfurther to: broadcast electrical signals, received from the cordedtelephone, to the one or more speakers.
 3. The adapter of claim 2, wherethe one or more speakers are different than the communicating device,different than the corded telephone, and different than the cordlessspeaker.
 4. The adapter of claim 2, where the one or more speakers arephysically separate from the corded telephone.
 5. The adapter of claim1, where the adapter is placed in-line between the corded handset andthe base unit.
 6. The adapter of claim 1, where the communicating deviceincludes a lapel microphone.
 7. The adapter of claim 6, where thecommunicating device further includes a belt pack connected to the lapelmicrophone.
 8. The adapter of claim 1, where the adapter is connected toa power source that is separate from the adapter.
 9. The adapter ofclaim 1, where the first RF signals are associated with a frequencychannel of a plurality of frequency channels, the frequency channelbeing selected by a user.
 10. The adapter of claim 1, where the secondRF signals are associated with a frequency channel of a plurality offrequency channels, the frequency channel being selected by a user. 11.A method comprising: receiving, by a device, first radio frequency (RF)signals wirelessly transmitted by a first RF transmitter of acommunicating device; receiving, by the device and from a cordedtelephone, a plurality of call set-up functions, the corded telephonebeing different than the communicating device, and the device nothousing the corded telephone; accessing, by the device and using thecorded telephone, a telephone network; duplicating, by the device andusing the received plurality of call set-up functions and based onaccessing the telephone network, a plurality of functions associatedwith the corded telephone; receiving, by the device and using a firstinterface, a connection from a first jack on a base unit of the cordedtelephone; receiving, by the device and using a second interface, aconnection between the device and a second jack on a corded handset ofthe corded telephone; and transmitting, by the device, second RFsignals, corresponding to electrical signals communicated by the cordedtelephone, to a cordless speaker having a RF receiver, the cordlessspeaker being physically separate from the communicating device, and thecordless speaker being different than the communicating device and beingdifferent than the corded telephone.
 12. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: receiving, using a third interface, a connection to one ormore speakers; and broadcasting electrical signals, received from thecorded telephone, to the one or more speakers.
 13. The method of claim12, where the one or more speakers are different than the communicatingdevice, different than the corded telephone, and different than thecordless speaker.
 14. The method of claim 12, where the one or morespeakers are physically separate from the corded telephone.
 15. Themethod of claim 11, where the device is placed in-line between thehandset of the corded telephone and the base unit of the cordedtelephone.
 16. The method of claim 11, where the communicating deviceincludes a lapel microphone.
 17. The method of claim 16, where thecommunicating device further includes a belt pack connected to the lapelmicrophone.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising: receivingpower from a power source that is separate from the device.
 19. Themethod of claim 11, where the first RF signals are associated with afrequency channel of a plurality of frequency channels, the frequencychannel being selected by a user.
 20. The method of claim 11, where thesecond RF signals are associated with a frequency channel of a pluralityof frequency channels, the frequency channel being selected by a user.